At the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) 16th National Conference in Hartford, CT, common themes and hot topics of discussion emerged. One popped up numerous times—”genrefication,” the reorganizing of one’s collection away from Dewey Decimal Classification.

At one of the hottest sessions at ALA’s most recent Midwinter meeting, the Dewey Decimal System—that sacred cow of library organization—was trotted out in front of a packed room and subjected to intense scrutiny. But in the midst of Common Core, among other pressing issues, is this debate really worth our time?